Chris Blackhurst is quick to tell me that this is his "fourth incarnation at the Independent" – a newspaper that he has "a serious affection for", and where his previous stints included one as deputy to Rosie Boycott back in the 1990s. His decision to accept the editor's job – he is the eighth incumbent – was "instant". The appointment ended months of speculation about the future of long-time editor Simon Kelner, during which time a string of other names, not least Rod Liddle, were touted. But if he was a second or third choice, Blackhurst shows no signs of being bothered. "I don't know if other people were sounded out; I hear the same rumours that you hear. All I know is that I was asked and I said yes."

Appointed in July, Blackhurst signals a different approach for the daily, which turns 25 on Friday. He notes that "Simon took the paper down a particular route, which was very comment-driven" and that there is "a definite case for making the paper newsier, giving it more energy, more urgency, more relevance". He indicates that in some instances there will be more, shorter stories – "I want to make the reader feel they've got value for money." Later he says he has "huge admiration" for Kelner and that he is "still in touch with him, we are having lunch very shortly", although Kelner's wife, cartoonist Sally Ann Lasson, left last week.

Trophy hires such as Jemima Khan will write more; Blackhurst intends to be hands-on, in the office until 8pm "to put the paper to bed". Above all, Kelner's sloganeering front pages will all but disappear because it "became non-serious, almost became quirky doing it day after day. It did mean when people went into the newsagent, they'd see other newspapers covering important stories, the Independent might have something completely different on the front page."

Party lines

The new editor is clear that his title will remain "centre left", but is less sure about party endorsements. "I am beginning to wonder if the Independent should be backing anybody. Newspapers have got into a habit of telling their readers how to vote. I like to think Independent readers can make their own mind up."

But can Blackhurst make up his own mind – won't the pugilistic Alexander and apparently more philosophical Evgeny Lebedev have their say?

He first notes that "Evgeny Lebedev is the owner of the paper" (which is what it says at Companies House); in contrast, "Alexander supplies the money". He then adds: "I have conversations with them, the same as any editor has with a proprietor." But they seem infrequent: he speaks to Evgeny, the man in London, about once a week, Alexander less so. "I know Alexander a little, I've spoken to him a few times," he says later, which must make independence from him easy. There is certainly no boxing behind the scenes, he says, despite an incident where Alexander Lebedev punched a man on Russian television earlier this month. "I was as shocked as anybody," he adds.

The hard question for the newspaper, though, is its size. Ranked fourth in the quality market, its headline UK sale of 156,912 in August masks the fact that only 81,624 of those copies are actually bought and sold. Is it big enough? Blackhurst says there are no plans to take the Independent free like its stablemate the Evening Standard. He notes there are also "a huge number of i readers" – the 20p title is now selling 183,207 – and that, taken together, "for the first time in many years, the Independent has scale, where paid-for circulation of the Independent and the i is an extremely healthy figure".

It helps, too, that there is a Russian fortune to rely on, with Lebedev senior funding annual losses estimated at £15m, according to sources close to the family. Blackhurst says the editorial budget is "certainly not going down". There are, it seems, no plans to save costs by merging departments with the Standard. "People keep looking at it," he says. Then he pauses before adding that there is nothing in his in-tray about it.

The website, where the Independent underperforms, will be relaunched soon, and there is some interest in a paywall. "You have to make a distinction between the UK and foreign readers. In the UK where you have a BBC it is very hard to make the case for a paywall," he says, but there is a case for charging overseas readers – "say, 20 hits and then you pay".

He also stresses that the paper is already efficiently run – the legacy, perhaps, of years of cuts by the previous owners. There are about 200 journalists – "which is about a third of the Guardian's", he says, before adding: "I'm not sure you will print that." He bravely observes "we are nearer break-even than anybody else in our market", referring to the losses run up by the Times titles and Guardian News & Media.

Cutting comment

However, Blackhurst believes the financial pressures pale compared with the "huge problem" revealed by the phone-hacking crisis. He believes that "there is no doubt that the scandal went wider than News International" – we await detail – and that in effect, the whole press is in disrepute. "I'm not sure the public distinguish between one newspaper and another." He thinks the PCC is "a pretty toxic brand name" and compares reporters to hairdressers: "I can't think of any other industry in the 21st century where there is so little regulation."

The Blackhurst formula for reform is that a new PCC should have the powers to fine, to "go into newsrooms and seize content and take statements" and – repeating remarks made last week – to ban errant reporters, something that would be enforced by all members of the PCC agreeing to abide by its rulings. But the Desmond papers are outside the PCC already; wouldn't others leave as well? "I do think it is damaging. There has to be a way of licensing newspapers and then insist they are part of a professional body."

However, he worries that Fleet Street won't agree on reform, and that the Leveson inquiry is deeply flawed because its remit is too wide and its advisers don't have "frontline investigative newspaper experience". The forms it sent out asked questions so broad that "I had to have lawyers present when I gave my answers", he says. "[It feels] like the whole newspaper industry is on trial because a small group of journalists engaged in phone hacking."

One question remains: why didn't he sack Johann Hari for plagiarising and using a false identity to attack critics online? He laughs when I ask and begins by saying Andreas Whittam Smith, whom he had asked to investigate, concluded his misbehaviour "was serious, but it didn't warrant his dismissal". He won't publish the report – "These are private employer-employee matters" – but notes that Whittam Smith had sent the "narrative" of his report to Hari at the same time as to himself. "I was aware Johann had a very good idea what was in the report," he says, which made it harder for him to reach a different conclusion. It also didn't help that his predecessor, in the chair when the allegations of plagiarism first surfaced, "didn't regard it as job-ending". This meant that "if I want to get into the legalities, that could have created a problem".

Blackhurst concludes: "It was not the Independent's finest hour."

That, though, won't dampen the new editor's enthusiasm. "I'm tired, overweight, having fun. It's relentless, and I'm having the time of my life."